One Sky One Destiny
by TheKeybladeForger
Summary: Sora's name means 'Sky,' and to Riku he has always been his one and only sky and destiny. But being forced to hide their true feelings in the dark of the night makes Riku wonder if he should have stayed there instead of walking back under the sunlit sky with Sora. So when they end up in a world where their kind of relationship is accepted, which sky will he choose to live under...?
1. Traveling Together

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts or Kyo Kara Maoh, this is purely fan-made!

**Note:** Ok so, I was re-reading the previous chapters of _'Begotten Hearts'_ so that I could come up with a new chapter for it when I got this idea in my head while reading one of the Kingdom Hearts doujinshi's and as a result, this short-story was born. It's pretty much based off of the Crown doujinshi manga where Riku and Sora are paired as a couple_ (of course, when I downloaded the scans I excluded all the explicate parts because unfortunately the manga is written for mature viewers who apparently have very VERY sick minds regarding our two heroes...0.o)_ Anyway, the plan in this story in regards to Kyo Kara Maoh is just for Sora and Riku to wind up in the Great Demon Kingdom where dating or being engaged to another guy is totally acceptable so things get very interesting for the two of them. I don't know if I'll actually stay motivated enough to finish it due to the serious lack of reviews for ANY of my updates so far but for now I'll just start with this intro chapter and leave it up to you if you guys want me to continue it. If you do, please send me a quick review. If not, well I have plenty of other projects I'm still working on so we'll see what else I manage to post next even though I'm still really busy right now. Nevertheless, please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Traveling Together

"Hey Riku, isn't this your first time driving the Gummi Ship?" Sora asked curiously while he watched as Riku expertly navigated the controls as if it was second nature to him.

Riku shrugged, "Yeah. So...?"

"Well, you seem really good at it so I was just curious," Sora dropped down into the seat next to Riku and then with his hands resting on his knees asked him innocently, "Did the King teach you how to fly it when you were traveling together or something?"

Glancing at Sora's usual clueless expression, Riku sighed and answered bluntly, "No. He didn't teach me anything about Gummi Ships. I had my own way of getting around remember?"

"Oh...right," Sora blinked, leaning back in his seat and looking somewhat chest-fallen.

He gets depressed so easily, Riku thought, returning his attention to where they were flying on the monitor. I guess I better change the subject.

"By the way Sora, where are we even going anyway? Just because school's out doesn't mean we can just go running off to some other world for some kind of a vacation if that's what you're thinking of doing. It's hard enough hiding the things we do without-" Noticing that Sora was blushing furiously, Riku added hastily, "-Oh, I didn't mean that Sora. Jeez, you always get so worked up over nothing."

With his face reddening even more from a mixture of anger and embarrassment, Sora jumped to his feet and said bashfully, "Well excuse me for jumping to the wrong conclusions. I just thought you were..."

Raising an eyebrow and reading Sora's face as easily as usual, Riku replied, "Ashamed of it? You really are an idiot Sora."

Sora pouted, "Hey!"

"I was talking about the work we do for Mickey and your friends back in Hallow Bastion," Riku mused, "Oh yeah, but call it 'Radiant Gardens' now a day's don't we. After all, that's what it was originally called right?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, that's what it used to be called when the real Ansem ruled there, you know, that guy named DiZ that you used to work for before he sacrificed himself to stop Xemnas from completing his fake Kingdom Hearts..." then leaning forward in his seat, he asked Riku seriously, "Hey Riku...do you ever miss him?"

"Who?" Riku replied calmly.

"DiZ," Sora said with exasperation, "You know, Ansem the Wise? The real one? Do you ever miss him? Because while I was asleep in that pod thing, he helped you out a lot didn't he?"

Riku didn't answer right away because remembering how hard it was to be beside Sora that whole time but not with him was excruciatingly painful, even now. He had betrayed Sora, hurt him, and even attacked him on more than one occasion. But after they were finally reunited in the World that Never Was, Riku couldn't stand the thought of ever parting from Sora again even if it was for his own good. That's why every chance he got, Riku went on missions alongside Sora to fight the Heartless and Nobodies still wandering the worlds in search of hearts to capture.

And that's how it should have been all along...

Riku should have been fighting alongside Sora, not against him. Maybe that's why he fell so far into the darkness, because Riku figured that if he couldn't stand with Sora in the light, he would become his ever-present shadow. A shadow that Sora could never escape.

Things were different now though. Riku could control the darkness inside of himself and use it to protect Sora. But still, it was hard to forget about his own sins that hurt Sora in the first place and allowed Ansem's Heartless take over his body. Sora was the one person Riku loved above all others, even himself, which was why he had been so willing to sacrifice himself to close the Door to Darkness and then later to release the dark power inside of his to get the last fragments of memory that was needed to wake Sora from his slumber after their visit to Castle Oblivion.

And Sora was right about one thing, DiZ was a huge part of making that happen along with Namine', Kairi's Nobody, who was working on reconnecting the links of Sora's memories that she had taken apart while being held captive by Organization XIII in that castle. If it wasn't for his guidance while DiZ was disguised as Ansem in Castle Oblivion on the first few floors, Riku wasn't sure if he would have been able to finally face the fact that he needed to confront his darkness head on instead of trying to escape or suppress it.

So maybe Sora was right about Riku missing DiZ at least a little. Because he did help wake Sora up and Riku wouldn't have known what to do on his own even with his and Namine's help. Also, after defeating Roxas and losing his own appearance when he unleashed the darkness inside of him, DiZ waited patiently and helped to make sure that Riku didn't completely forget who he really was when he started to call himself 'Ansem.' And lastly, there was the sacrifice DiZ made that allowed Riku to return to his true form again. If it wasn't for that, Riku never would have been able to go home with Sora even if they did defeat Xemnas, because his own parents wouldn't have recognized him.

Therefore, Riku did feel a sense of gratitude towards DiZ even though his actions back then were fueled only by revenge. But then again, didn't Riku want the same revenge on those who tried to steal Sora away by rewriting his heart? He had worked far too hard getting Sora's heart for himself to let anyone else have him, let alone people who were going to abuse Sora's power. No one would ever hurt Sora again, and Riku was going to make sure of that by never leaving his side again...

"Riku? What's wrong?" Sora asked suddenly, bringing Riku back to reality, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Nah," Riku smiled, "I was just thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Sora asked him innocently as he leaned in closer, close enough that Riku could feel Sora's breath on his face.

Sora had no idea how hard it was for Riku to resist him when he was this close, especially when Sora was worried. Riku just wanted to embrace him right now and never let Sora go again. He did not want to be separated by these two bodies of theirs and yearned so badly for their feelings to become blended into one beating heart. After all, Sora was his light, and Riku wanted to shield that light from everyone else in the folds of his darkness, but he knew he could never do that.

A light like Sora's, as much as Riku hated to admit it, was something that needed to be shared with the world in order to brighten them and bring people closer together. He didn't want to share Sora, but Riku knew better now than to try and keep him all to himself Sora like he tried to before. Because Riku knew how he was about keeping his promises to visit his other friends in all those other worlds he had traveled to over that last few years. That was probably the reason why they were making this trip now that Riku really thought about it. They were probably going to go visit some of those places where Sora's friends were anxiously waiting to see him too.

Leaning forward himself, Riku kissed Sora lightly on the cheek, tasting his skin and grinning mischievously as he lied, "This kind of stuff..."

Pausing to put the Gummi Ship on auto-pilot, Riku started to rise from his chair to hover over Sora as he shyly backed away from Riku. But his back soon hit the arm of his own chair and Sora was cornered when Riku reached forward and gripped Sora's shoulder's gently but firmly as he kissed Sora's neck before he continued upward until he reach his ear and nibbled on the tip of it.

Sora quivered when he did this, Riku could feel it through the fabric of his gloves since he was wearing his old Organization coat today over his own cloths. Then Riku slid his hands down Sora's arms, leaning into him, and Sora responded by wrapping his arms around Riku's waist and whispering, "You know, I don't really think we should be doing this now. What if we're attacked by Heartless ships?"

Withdrawing his face from Sora's neck, Riku replied, "We'll be fine. We haven't even seen any other ships since we left Master Yen Sid's tower so we should be in the clear. Besides, I'll be good this time and leave you at least a little bit conscious when I'm done..."

Sora's face turned bright red and he complained, "That's mean Riku! I won't-ah!"

Sora gasped sharply when Riku pressed one of his legs forward between Sora's to silence him and his skin started to prickle with a wild excitement that sent chills up his spine. He felt Riku's practiced fingers slide under his shirt, slowly going upward as they traced his corded stomach. After that, Riku's lips came crashing onto Sora's like they always did, with an unsalable hunger that stole his breath away. Under their weight, the chair suddenly swiveled and Riku fell on top of Sora, trying not to let that interrupt them.

"Ouch..." Sora winced, "That kinda hurt..."

"You want me to stop?" Riku asked, even though he already knew himself well enough to know that even if Sora said yes, he would just keep going anyway.

Turning away, Sora blushed and stammered, "N-no, I was just saying that that fall just now hurt my back a little."

With his eyes glittering naughtily, Riku whispered silkily, "I think I can fix that."

"Wha-?" Sora blinked, as usual, totally oblivious to what Riku was planning when-

Suddenly, the entire ship lurched to the side and both Sora and Riku were tossed across the cockpit as the alarms started to blare. Cursing, Riku went back to his chair and saw a huge ship pass by with the Nobody's sigil carved into the side. And behind it, a whole swarm of Heartless ships were giving chase, intent on destroying the enemy ship, which meant that he and Sora were right in the middle of the crossfire!

"Sora! Hurry and get back in your seat!" Riku shouted, deactivating the auto-pilot and taking the controls to evade the cannons being shot in their direction by the Heartless ships.

"Ok!" Sora nodded excitedly, buckling his seat-belt and taking command of one of their own turrets and whooping, "Yeah! Time to kick some Heartless butt!"

* * *

After about a full hour of fighting off enemy after enemy, Sora groaned loudly, "Man! Whatever those Nobody's have gotten their grubby mitts on the Heartless seem to want it really REALLY bad," he commented as they continued trying to evade both of their attacks.

"I dunno, they might just hate each other's guts," Riku joked after blowing up yet another ship while trying to open up an escape route.

Sora snorted, "Oh come on Riku! You know that can't be it. They don't have hearts remember?"

Not feeling inclined to answer that, Riku decided to pretend like he was concentrating on fighting off the enemy-which he was-and try to get them both out of there as soon as possible. After all, they destroyed a lot of ships already but more of them just kept coming and attacking both them and the Nobodies relentlessly. At this rate, their cannons were going to overheat and damage the ship. If that happened it would put them both at risk, especially Sora...

And Riku wasn't about to let that happen.

Just then, an explosion erupted in the rear of the ship when one of their engines was damaged by a direct hit. The Gummi Ship's shields had already expended the last of their power just a few minutes ago so they no longer gave them any sort of protection from a direct hit.

Suddenly, Sora tore off his belt and started running in the direction of the flames when Riku shouted, "Sora! You idiot! What are you doing?!"

"Don't worry, I'm just going to put out the flames with an ice spell real fast," Sora shouted back, "Otherwise it might spread to the rest of the ship and then we'll both be in real trob-!"

Before Sora could finish the rest of his sentence, as soon as he made it to the hallway that led to the engine room, another explosion caught him off guard and Sora shouted in alarm as he was blasted backwards into the wall opposite him and slumped to the floor with a dull thud, unconscious. A trickle of blood started running down his face and staining his brown hair when Riku shouted his name and tore himself out of his seat as well and rushed over to his side.

Riku shook Sora, trying to wake him up, but it was no use. Sora was completely out cold. He did manage a quick healing spell on Sora before flames soon surrounded them and the Gummi Ship started spiraling out of control.

Then he made a critical decision, which Riku knew would still be dangerous for both of them, but if he didn't do something they were both going to die. So mustering his courage and drawing upon the powers of darkness, Riku flicked his wrist and a dark corridor appeared in front of them. Although, Riku honestly wasn't sure if he could still open one and was a little shocked when he found out he could.

Then after carefully pulling Sora up into his arms, Riku made a run for it when something hard hit him in the back of the head. And before he could direct them to any sort of destination through the corridor, both of them tumbled into the darkness. Diving into the unknown...

* * *

Meanwhile, far off in another world, a certain young Demon King was growing bored after being so formal all night during yet another party at the castle with all the member nations in the alliance and doing nothing but greet people and shake their hands until it felt like his own was about to fall off at the wrist. Not that Yuri could blame them. The last few parties they had attended either ended in disaster, or somehow Yuri ended up absent by either getting himself kidnapped or running off somewhere. Therefore, most of his guests never really had the chance to really greet him properly until now...

With that in mind, Yuri put up with all the formalities because he owed them at least this much after everything they had done for him and his Kingdom in return for his kindness. Not that Yuri was kind to people just to get something out of it, it was just in his nature to be nice to everyone he met. Still, Yuri was getting kinda tired now and wanted to go to bed soon. But, there was still one person that he had been looking forward to seeing at the party but there was still no sign of him anywhere and Yuri started to wonder if he would end up showing up at all.

Just when Yuri was about to give up and excuse himself, someone called out his name and he whirled around to see who it was. And when their eyes met, his entire face brightened.

"Sara!" Yuri waved excitedly, dashing over to him, "I'm so glad to see you!"

Sara smiled charmingly, "You too Yuri."

"You're looking well, Your Majesty," Berias bowed formally from behind Sara before he glanced up at Conrad who had just returned to Yuri's side with a glass of punch and added with a nod, "Lord Weller."

"Conrad?" Yuri blinked, turning his head around to follow Berias's gaze. "Oh hey! Since when did you get back?"

With an amused smile on his face, Conrad replied, "I was coming to save you from your obvious boredom Your Highness, but it appears that I've been beaten to the punch..." then he offered Yuri the drink, which Yuri accepted without catching on Conrad's pun at the very end of his comment.

Sharing in Conrad's amusement, Sara smiled too before adding with a playful frown, "You'll have to forgive my lateness Yuri. I was having a hard time breaking from the crowd. We both seem to be quite popular recently."

Yuri sighed, "Yeah. Maybe, but I still don't see how-hmm?" Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Yuri's neck stood on end and he a chill ran up his spine, "Wah!?"

"Are you alright?" Conrad asked, visibly tensing at Yuri's sudden outburst.

Before Yuri could reply, Wolfram appeared out of nowhere and complained, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Didn't you promise me a dance?"

Blushing, Yuri frowned and quickly looked away, "I did not Wolfram! Stop making stuff up."

"Oh my, are you two having a lover's quarrel?" Lady Celli giggled as she walked up to them and Yuri's blush turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Mother!" Wolfram blushed too, "That's not-!"

Stammering, Yuri nodded, "Y-yeah, we're not fighting. We were just-"

"You two are very close aren't you?" Sara asked with a playful smile, though his gaze seemed somewhat distant as he continued more quietly, "I'm a little jealous..."

Shaking his head and turning sharply towards Sara, Yuri exclaimed, "You got it all wrong! Wolfram and I are just friends! And besides, you're my friend too Sara, so you don't have to be jealous," grinning, Yuri added courageously, "I want to become close friends with you too Sara so we can put our past misunderstandings behind us and move on to a better future. Because I still think that we can be just as good a friends as Wolfram and I and everyone else here at the castle are."

"Yuri..." Sara blinked, taken aback by Yuri's strong reaction. Then, his eyes softened and Sara was about to say something else when-

Suddenly, a swirling black mass of darkness appeared just behind them and someone shouted at it in alarm as several people scrambled away from it. Therefore, quickly drawing their swords and positioning themselves in front of Sara, Yuri, and Lady Celli, they faced the strange black vortex before them while the other guests immediately backed away from where they stood.

"Stay behind us Your Majesties!" Berias called over his shoulder, taking a cautious step towards the dark portal, "We don't know what is going to come out of there."

Just then, Gwendal and Gunter appeared with a group of soldiers and Gwendal said sharply, "Hurry and get King Yuri to safety and evacuate the room. We'll take it from here."

"What is that thing though?" Wolfram asked sharply, glaring at the swirling blackness before them and feeling sick already from being so close to it. So did that mean it was Esoteric powers making it?

Before Conrad could pull Yuri further away out of harm's way after giving Gwendal a quick nod, Yuri's eyes widened and he pointed, "Look guys! Someone's coming out of it!"

And he was right...

A human form was detaching itself from the darkness and the first thing they saw was a head of silver hair as a handsome young man staggered forward a few steps and fell to his knees in front of them, looking somewhat dazed and disoriented. He was clad entirely in black and in his arms was another boy with spiky brown hair who seemed to be unconscious at the moment and fresh blood was dripping down the side of his face.

Blinking the stars out of his eyes, the silver-haired boy looked up with his sharp teal colored eyes and glaring at the soldiers now surrounding him and his fallen friend.

Then, summoning some sort of strange key-shaped weapon, he pointed it at them with his free hand and snarled in defiance, "I won't let you touch Sora."

* * *

Riku had only blacked out for a second or two after he got hit in the back of the head but when he found himself and Sora surrounded by soldiers and all these richly dressed people-who were obviously nobles of some sort-he knew that they hadn't gone back to Radiant Garden where Riku was trying to take them when he opened the dark corridor...

But using the powers of darkness was extremely reckless for Riku to have used anyway so maybe it served him right that they were in the wrong place. While it had been dangerous for Riku to pass through because of his affinity to darkness, it was even more dangerous to Sora since he didn't have the same sort of immunity that Riku did. As soon as he realized this, Riku berated himself for not putting his cloak on Sora instead before they passed through.

Because with acute sense of anything associated with the darkness, Riku could see a very fine black mist curling off of Sora's body and he kept flinching in his sleep because of the corrosive power of darkness still clinging to him. After passing through the realm of darkness, it's power was irritating his open wounds; such as the burns and scratches from the second explosion. Therefore, Riku needed to get him out of there and try using another Cure on Sora before his wounds got any worst.

"Whoa. He summoned that weapon out of thin air!" Yuri gaped in awe, "That's so cool!"

"Yuri, stay behind me," Conrad instructed firmly, "We don't know if he's an enemy or not."

Yuri blinked, "Huh? But...his friend looks like he's hurt. Shouldn't we help them?"

"The safety of our guests and Your Highness comes first," Gunter interjected, "If he agrees to come quietly, we may be able to tend to his companion right away. But if not-"

Listening carefully to what they were saying, Riku glanced at the soldiers again and at the rest of them before deciding that he didn't feel threatened by them. After all, if they had any ill intentions Riku would have sensed that darkness in their hearts by now. But all Riku felt was the protective tension in the air because of how he and Sora had shown up right in the middle of their castle straight out of the Realm of Darkness.

However, when his gaze drifted over to Sara, Riku tensed again. There was definitely darkness in him. Not very much, but enough for Riku to know that he was a crafty one that was not to be taken lightly. Still, Riku didn't want to pick a fight with these people and they didn't seem to be a threat to Sora so as a gesture of trust, he dismissed his Keyblade and surrendered.

"Look, I'm not here to fight," Riku said calmly, still eying the soldiers surrounding him and Sora, "Just let me and Sora go and we'll get out of your hair."

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Gwendal said bluntly as he stepped forward. "We can't let you go until you tell us what you're doing here so we're going to have to take you into custody."

Frowning, Riku nodded and sighed as he put his hands in the air, "Fine. Do whatever you want." Nodding at the soldiers, Gwendal's men moved forward to quietly lead Riku out of the room when he lowered his arms and said, "Wait."

Kneeling down, Riku picked Sora up again with a look of defiance as he declared, "I'm not letting Sora out of my sight, so wherever you take me, he's going too. Got it?"

Surprised, Yuri asked him from behind Conrad, "Wait a minute! What about his wounds? I mean, he's hurt right? Don't you want us to help him?"

Riku just looked at Yuri curiously, his eyes searching Yuri's for a moment before he smiled dangerously, "I promised that we'd never have to be apart again, and it's my fault he got hurt in the first place so Sora is my responsibility. No one else's." Something about the way Riku said that made him pause, feeling something strange welling up inside of his heart. And when he realized that, Riku reasoned with himself and grumpily admitted, "Well, maybe you're right..."

Reluctantly, Riku handed Sora over to a pair of soldiers who carefully lowered him into a stretcher they brought and watched them take Sora away. Closing both hands into tight fists, Riku allowed himself to be led out of the room as well as curious eyes watched him pass. And sure, Riku could have just taken Sora and ran but to be honest he actually wasn't feeling all that great himself. His head was throbbing and occasionally Riku's vision started to blur. But it was better for them to worry about Sora first since Riku would have refused to be treated before him anyway...

Sora would always come first in Riku's life, although he knew Sora would be upset with him once he woke up for letting them take care of his wounds before Riku's. That's just how selfless Sora was. So maybe it was good that Sora was unconscious, that way, he couldn't argue with it.

Still, where the hell were they anyway?


	2. Waking

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts or Kyo Kara Maoh, this is purely fan-made!

Chapter 2: Waking

_(Never Far Behind by Aly and Aj)_

_I know this really isn't you_

_I know your heart is somewhere else_

_And I'll do anything I can_

_To help you break out of this spell_

_I see you following your crowd_

_I know you're trying to fit in_

_But if you're gonna find yourself_

_You gotta start from deep, deep within_

_Hold on to what you believe_

_I will always be your friend_

_I know who you are inside_

_I am with you till the end_

_Never far behind_

_I am standing in the distance_

_You can take your time_

_And I will be there waiting_

_Never far behind_

_Yeah_

_Never far behind_

_I am sending you a message_

_Don't ever think that it's too late_

_When you care about someone_

_There is always room for change_

_You're allowed to make mistakes_

_It's a part of every life_

_I don't see you any different_

_The truth is shining in your eyes_

_Hold on to what you believe_

_I will always be your friend_

_I know who you are inside_

_I am with you till the end_

_Never far behind_

_I am standing in the distance_

_You can take your time_

_And I will be there waiting_

_Never far behind_

_Yeah_

_Never far behind_

_You can take your time_

_And I know_

_With all my heart_

_I will always be your friend_

_I know who you are inside_

_I am with you till the end_

_Never far behind_

_I am standing in the distance_

_You can take your time_

_And I will be here waiting_

_Waiting by my side_

_God_

_Is never far behind_

_I am sending you a message…_

* * *

"So your name is Riku correct?" Gwendal repeated as they interrogated Riku since they still weren't sure whether or not Riku was dangerous yet.

Riku nodded, "That's right."

Glancing over at Conrad thoughtfully, Riku paused because he couldn't shake the feeling that they had met somewhere before. His posture, his voice, and even Conrad's appearance all reminded Riku of Sora's friend Leon from Radiant Gardens. And maybe it was just because Conrad had brown hair and a scar too, but Riku couldn't help but see all of the similarities that Conrad and Leon both shared that kept distracting Riku while Gwendal continued to bombard him with more questions.

Noticing that Riku was staring at him Conrad asked calmly, "Hmm? What is it?"

Riku shrugged and leaned back in his chair before smiling to himself, "Nothing, you just remind me of someone that's all."

Exchanging looks, Gwendal finally decided to cut down to the chase and asked, "So why exactly are you here Riku? And what was that dark portal you and your friend came out of? I presume it was made with Esoteric power wasn't it?"

"Esoteric?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow in puzzlement before he realized, "Oh. You mean magic right? Well I can use magic but that's not what that _'portal'_ was." Clenching his fists, Riku looked away from them as he answered his question somewhat reluctantly, "At any rate, I only came here because I had no other choice. Our ship was attacked so I had to get Sora out of there somehow. If I hadn't opened it, then Sora would have-" gripping his fists even tighter, he growled, "-I should have known better than to put myself and Sora in that sort of danger but then that moron tried to put out the fire himself and got knocked out by a second explosion. Figures Sora would do something stupid like that. He _always_ has to play the hero..."

Conrad couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Riku said that despite the context and elbowed Wolfram as he whispered teasingly in his brother's ear, "He sounds just like you Wolfram whenever you refer to His Highness."

"Lord Weller!" Wolfram growled in a low voice, "Don't say such unnecessary things!"

"He has a point though," Gunter added with a small yet amused frown, "You _still_ call His Majesty names like that despite us telling you time and time again not to, especially in front of guests."

Clearing his throat, Gwendal turned back to Riku and continued, "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you appear here at Covenant Castle?"

_Covenant Castle? _Riku thought to himself carefully before responding. _Never heard of that place before. So this really is a new world that even Sora hasn't visited before, at least not that I know of. This could be bad. I have no idea how to get back to Radiant Garden from here or how far away we even are from their world. Plus, without a Gummi Ship, we won't be able to get anywhere anyway unless someone comes looking for us. Then again, did Sora even tell anyone where we were going? He said it was a surprise after all._

"Well?" Gwendal asserted harshly.

Sighing, Riku answered confidently, "I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you the truth so why bother? You'll just try and lock me up anyway if my answers don't satisfy you right? I can see it written all over your face. You don't trust me."

"And why should we?" Wolfram challenged haughtily. "You expect us to believe you're a good guy when you appeared right in the middle of an important gathering with all the member nations of the Great Demon Kingdom Alliance in some sort of black vortex and then you drew your weapon on us?"

"I was protecting Sora," Riku snapped venomously in his direction, making even Wolfram flinch. "I didn't know whether or not _you _were enemies either. And for your information I didn't want to bring Sora here at all. I was going to bring us somewhere else but before I could direct us to where I was going to try to...I..." he blinked dizzily, putting his face in his hands while trying to fight of the wave of nausea that suddenly came over him.

"Is something wrong?" Gunter asked, genuinely concerned.

"It's nothing," Riku replied flatly, still glaring over at Wolfram from between his fingers.

Looking at him more closely, Gunter did notice that Riku looked a bit pale so he turned to Gwendal and said, "He doesn't look well Gwendal. I think we should have Geisila examine him too, just to be safe."

Gwendal sighed before nodding in agreement, "Very well. I believe that we have established that Riku is telling us the truth about arriving here by accident, most of the truth that at least..." he added, "So for the time being Riku and his companion will stay here at the castle but I want them both put under guard until further notice until all of our guests leave."

"Excuse me Gwendal," Conrad began, making Gwendal look at him curiously, "If you're going to keep them locked up somewhere, will you at least allow them to stay together? Riku seems to be rather concerned about his friend Sora. Besides, I doubt he'd want to do anything that would put Sora in danger from what he has told us already. That much at least, I believe we can trust."

Wolfram rolled his eyes and spat, "You're almost as bad as Yuri! Always way too trusting."

Conrad smiled warmly at his younger brother and laughed, "Maybe so..." after glancing over at Riku again, he winked and said with confidence, "...but I have a feeling that Riku here is someone we can trust. Something in my heart tells me so. And after all, isn't it Yuri who says to always trust in your heart no matter what?"

At that, Riku laughed too. "Great, now there's going to be two of Sora around here. That sounds just like him too."

"Then I look forward to meeting your friend when he wakes up," Conrad smiled before nodding briefly to his brothers and declaring, "I'm going to inform His Highness of the situation. Please take care of the rest for me."

After returning a quick nod in return, Gwendal rose from his seat and said, "Well then Riku, lets bring you to Geisila. And I'll allow you to stay with your friend so long as you don't try anything foolish. Do I make myself clear?"

Riku shrugged again and grinned, "It's not like I'd go anywhere without Sora anyway. He can't do anything without me around and gets himself into trouble a lot so I have to keep a close eye on him at all times, just like when we were kids," his expression became solemn though as he told Gwendal in all seriousness, "I won't leave him behind again, no matter what."

Glancing at Riku thoughtfully, Gwendal repeated, "Again?"

But Riku didn't reply and quickly followed them out of the room to meet up with Geisila. And while they walked, Riku thought about their situation here in this new world. For one thing, these didn't seem like bad people so Riku started to relax a bit, knowing that Sora was safe here in this castle for the time being. And for another, their suspicion was perfectly reasonable since he and Sora _did_ sort of crash the party by appearing right in the middle of the ballroom like that.

Still, if they really needed to leave, then at least Riku knew now that he could still use the corridors of darkness. Yet, at the same time that knowledge troubled Riku. Because after their final battle with Xemnas, King Mickey had explained to him that since he was no longer considered a denizen of the darkness anymore since he could use a Keyblade he couldn't use those pathways anymore. Since Riku could though, it could only mean one thing...

It could mean that somehow his darkness, was reawakening.

* * *

"Oh! Father!" Geisila gaped, rising from her chair after finishing her examination of Sora.

"Is everything alright?" Gunter asked mildly, looking down at Sora's sleeping form on the bed.

Following his gaze, Gesilia replied, "He had a few burns and several cuts on his back but his head injury doesn't appear to be that severe. I can't say for certain though until he wakes up..." looking at Riku, whom oddly enough she found rather attractive, Gesilia said, "Is this his friend?"

"Riku," he said, introducing himself in his usual way. "So is Sora really alright?"

Noting the glimmer of deep concern in Riku's eyes, she nodded, "Yes. It seems his garments have an unusual enchantment that resists fire. I've never seen anything like it."

"Of course not..." Riku laughed, "He was given those garments by...! Agh!"

Wincing, Riku staggered back, unable to maintain his balance and fell, clutching his head as the throbbing became worse. Skillfully, Geisila rushed to his side and scanned him briefly with her magic before exclaiming, "You have a concussion! Father, why didn't you bring him to me sooner?!"

"W-well, Gwendal was questioning him and he seemed fine until a few moments ago and when I saw how pale he was I asked if something was wrong but Riku insisted there wasn't. I'm sorry. I should have realized sooner."

She shook her head, "Honestly, you're all hopeless."

"I'm fine," Riku grimaced through his teeth, "This is punishment, that's all..."

"Punishment, for what?" Wolfram asked, honestly surprised by his words..

Withdrawing his hand from his face, Riku stared down at Sora as he answered bitterly, "For doing something I promised I would never do again."

Deciding to leave it at that, Wolfram turned to Gunter and said, "Well I believe we're done here. Geisila can take a look at him while we make sure that Yuri isn't screwing around with the other guests while we're busy babysitting. The guards can take it from here."

With a sigh, Gunter nodded before turning to his daughter and asking, "Would you be alright if I accompanied Wolfram back to the others or would you prefer if I stayed here with you?"

"I'll be fine," Geisila smiled, "Leave the rest to me."

Again, Gunter nodded and followed Wolfram outside where they briefly gave the soldiers outside their orders before returning to Yuri's side. After all, he had been left alone with only Yosak and Conrad for company while Gwendal was busy assuring the guests that there was nothing to worry about with the help of his mother, Lady Celli. Meanwhile, Sara was busy conversing with Berias about this whole turn of events and felt intrigued by their new unexpected guests. Especially Riku, whom he felt had a tremendous power hidden within him that peeked his curiosity...

Not in a malicious way though, but a general curiosity that Sara had for anyone with an unusual power. And Sara could only wonder what the relationship between Riku and Sora was like since he obviously was very protective of his friend. There was also the fact that Riku must be very strong indeed to have appeared right in the center of Covenant Castle which was protected from invaders by powerful magic. Though, there was no way he could have known then that Riku was in fact not simply a visitor from another country, but from another world entirely. None of them knew that yet.

But soon, they would find out just that in the most unanticipated way possible.

* * *

Later that night, while tossing around restlessly in his sleep, Sora dreamt about the past. He was standing at the very end of the bridge leading to their favorite spot to hang out together by the bent Paopu tree and Riku was right in front of him, offering Sora his hand just like _that_ time. It was that night which changed their lives forever, the night when the islands were enveloped in darkness and completely destroyed. Sora flinched a little as he remembered that terrible day, but something about this Riku in his dream seemed different...

"Sora, don't be afraid..." Riku called with a confident smile, beckoning to him, "Come with me."

"Riku?" Sora began unsurely, reaching for his hand and expecting this dream to play out just like that night when tendrils of darkness coiled around their bodies, wrapping them both in the folds of darkness. But Sora was shocked though when he managed to actually reach Riku and his strong yet gentle hand ushered Sora forward into his embrace.

Warm arms folded around Sora he felt safe despite the islands being torn apart all around them. Riku had always kept him safe, at least until that night when he became obsessed with becoming stronger for Sora's sake. He had also once kidnapped Kairi in order to force Sora to chase after him further into the darkness. Because Riku wanted Sora all to himself, for no one else to be able to see him in the dark beside himself, and for Sora to look only at him as his source of light in the unfathomable darkness surrounding them. For when Sora was standing in the light, everyone saw him and gravitated towards his warmth, a warmth that Riku once felt belonged to him alone, no one else.

Soon, only a small portion of land remained as more and more of the island was consumed. And Sora felt chilled by the cold wind whirling all around them so Riku drew him closer. Suddenly, his grip hardened and Sora winced as his face was forcefully lifted upwards to met Riku's cold gaze. His eyes seemed to pierce Sora's heart and he couldn't bring himself to look away even as he began to drown in their depths.

Sora gasped though when Riku's face became someone elses, a boy with long golden hair whose eyes were glowing a piercing blue as they gazed into his own. However, his grip on Sora loosened as the stranger leaned forward and whispered silkily, "You're mine now."

"Who...?" Sora started to ask, glancing over at him before abruptly being brought back to full alertness and lurching forward out of bed with a sharp gasp when he felt something warm touch his lips.

"Wah!" someone cried out, startled by his sudden reaction and leaping out of his chair. "Sora! Don't scare me like that!"

Sora blinked, "Huh?" before turning to the owner of the voice and asking, "Riku? What are you doing here?"

Relaxing, Riku snorted, "What am I doing here? What do you think I'm doing here genius? I'm taking care of you of course. Don't you remember what happened?"

Tilting his head, Sora crossed his arms and thought about it for a minute before answering, "Well let's see...we were riding in the Gummi Ship when a bunch of Heartless ships showed up and-!" then his eyes widened as Sora remembered the explosion and exclaimed, "Oh yeah! There's was an explosion and I blacked out after that. So, does that mean we got away then?"

Smiling, Riku gave him a gentle pat on the head before laughing, "Well duh, we wouldn't be here if we hadn't."

Blushing, Sora pulled away before taking a quick look around the room and asking, "Where are we anyway? And how the heck did we get here?"

Biting his lip, Riku followed his gaze and replied, "We're in someplace called Covenant Castle located in the Great Demon Kingdom. Apparently, the people who live here are called members of some kind of _'Demon Tribe_.' There are humans here too though but they use a different type of magic than these people do called Esoteric Skills. That's what they thought I used when I brought us here."

Looking back at Riku, Sora's eyes narrowed and he asked, "By bringing us here you mean...you used the power of darkness?"

Riku flinched.

"Riku, that's-" Sora began earnestly, untangling himself from the bed to get up, "-that's dangerous! You could have hurt yourself!"

"I had to, it was the only way to get us out of there in time," Riku argued, unable to meet Sora's gaze.

Sora was about to rebuke him further but then his foot got caught on the corner of his sheets and he lost his balance. Crying out, Sora reached out for something to break his fall when Riku skillfully glided forward and caught him with one arm just before his face collided with the stone floor.

The sudden movement made Sora dizzy though and he leaned against Riku and he murmured, "Sorry Riku, I still don't feel very good..."

Stroking the back of Sora's head, Riku replied, "It's ok, just get back in bed. After all, it's no wonder you still feel sick since we did pass through the realm of darkness on our way here."

Comforted by his words, Sora nodded and smiled, "Thanks Riku."

Pulling Sora closer, Riku whispered warmly, "Don't push yourself too hard, idiot." Even though Riku probably already knew, that the one pushing themselves too hard...was himself.

Geisila had tended to Riku's concussion but she couldn't treat the darkness Riku felt slowly stirring inside of his heart once again. But what had awakened it Riku wondered? Was it Riku's lingering feelings about keeping Sora to himself? Was it because he received that blow to the head before tumbling into this strange world? Or was it his own failure to keep the darkness subdued forever after all this time? To keep Ansem, who even to this day still slept in the depths of his heart, locked away?

Whatever the reason, Riku needed Sora to keep himself from letting the darkness reclaim him so easily. He wanted to be a part of Sora's life as the hero of light and chosen wielder of the Keyblade. And Riku never wanted to walk the path of darkness again if it meant he would end up hurting Sora again. So no matter what, Riku had to keep this a secret from Sora. Because if Sora knew, and he tried to fill Riku's heart with his light, Riku feared...that it would only make the darkness inside him grow larger just like before...


End file.
